I have a 92 4runner, auto transmission, 4wd.

A while back the transmission started to very slightly miss when shifting into the next gear. When going from 1st to 2nd (and 3rd to 4th) the engine will rev (up to about 4000 RPM) and then the transmission will catch. Because I was afraid to mess things up further, I parked it and started driving another vehichle.

Recently, I got back into the 4runner to test it out. After sitting for about 4-6 months, the problem has become worse. Now, the transmission doesnt engage until about 6000RPM before it shifts hard into the next gear.

One interesting thing is if I slightly let off the gas it will usually smoothly shift into the next gear. However, sometimes this doesnt even work. It does shift through all gears and once it reaches overdrive runs fine.

A few other problems I've seen:
[ul][*]When I first crank it up, for about 1-2 minutes it runs really rough (as if the spark plugs are bad) and then all the sudden it idles down to normal.[*]I have a problem with the spedometer sometimes (seems common on the boards) where it jumps down to zero and back to speed randomly.[/ul]
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! I just want to find out if there is something I can check before I get the transmission rebuilt.

Corey

 

Take it to an AAMCO shop. They have a very comprehensive diagnostic/test program. Hopefully its something simple like a loose valve guide body, something that might have happened during the last tranny fluid change. Fixing that would be included in the basic diagnostic/test fee. Like 45 bucks or so. I've always been happy with AAMCO.

If the problemis something worse, they will need to drop/open/inspect the tranny and check the associated electronics. That is about $600.

On my 87, I ended up finding out the torque convertor, tranny, transfer case all needed to be rebuilt, and the electronic harness was shot. Total cost would have been about $6500 to fix it all.

Oh yeah. The symptoms had been:slipping on hills when cold, and the tranny popping out of reverse when gassed hard. I also experienced some of that rough idling, too. It all came to a halt, literally, when the tranny locked up and I ended up shearing the flex plate when I tried to start the engine.

My solution was to have another shop do a manual tranny conversion. About $1200 for a whole drivetrain setup from a junked 87 p/u, i.e. everything from behind the main seal to the front of bothdiffs, all pedals, and all hydraulics. Labor was an additional $1400.

Now my truck has much more power and I saved over$3000. Plus I now have a gear driven transfer case as well. Woo Hoo!

 

This is close to my situation, except mine is a 2001 SR5. Any ideas on cost and diagnostic center ?

Thanks.